LONDON: Hours after saluting David Beckham as one of the world's best right-sided midfielders, England coach Steve McClaren reportedly was preparing to bench the Los Angeles Galaxy star for Wednesday's European Championship qualifier against Croatia.

Several major England daily newspapers, including the Independent, Daily Mail and the Times of London, all were reporting Wednesday the 32-year-old midfielder would be relegated to the bench after being selected for the England team for the first time since the 1998 World Cup.

With Russia heavily favored to beat Andorra, England needs at least a draw against Croatia to avoid missing the finals of a major tournament for the first time since the 1994 World Cup.

In October 2001, Beckham's goal from a free kick earned a 2-2 draw with Greece and sent England to the World Cup.

(Read content ‘Reports say Beckham to sit for start of Euro 2008 qualifier against Croatia’…)

Horcoff, Tom Gilbert, Marty Reasoner and Dustin Penner scored in regulation as Edmonton snapped a two-game losing streak.

Alexandre Burrows, Brad Isbister, Alexander Edler and Markus Naslund had goals for Vancouver.

The win kicked off a crucial six-game homestand for Edmonton (8-12-1), which moved one point ahead of Phoenix and out of last in the West.

The Canucks had a two-game winning streak snapped but they have recorded points in their last seven outings.

(Read content ‘Oilers defeat Canucks 5-4 in shootout (AP)’…)

DENVER: The United States' No. 2 official responsible for fighting drugs sees the indictment of Major League Baseball home run king Barry Bonds as a success, the upcoming report on steroids in MLB as a positive and envisions a day when all pro American pro leagues will adopt the World Anti-Doping Agency's rules.

“They don't want to sign on right now, because it's tough and it's specific.

(Read content ‘Deputy drug czar sees day when U.S. pro leagues will accept world’s standards’…)

(Read content ‘Humble Rollins adds MVP trophy to season of accolades’…)

DENVER: Floyd Landis filed his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Tuesday, setting in motion his last chance to regain the 2006 Tour de France title that was stripped because of a positive doping test.

Landis, who lost his arbitration hearing in September, promised last month that he would appeal the decision to CAS, which likely will hear the case early next year.

The introduction to the 90-page brief Landis' attorneys submitted to CAS said Landis fully supports ongoing efforts to eradicate doping in cycling.

“However, to wrongly strip a champion of his victory due to a flawed test is much worse than to have an athlete cheat his way to victory,” the introduction read.

(Read content ‘Landis files appeal with Court of Arbitration for Sport’…)

KINGSTON, Jamaica: A Jamaican government pathologist detected bruises caused by strangulation on the neck of cricket coach Bob Woolmer, a senior police officer testified Tuesday in a coroner's inquest to determine the cause of the high-profile death.

Police Deputy Superintendent Colin Pinnock said he was surprised by the finding of strangulation because he believed Woolmer, coach of Pakistan, had died of natural causes following the squad's upset loss to Ireland in Cricket World Cup.

Woolmer's March 18 death triggered a globe-spanning criminal investigation after pathologist Ere Seshaiah reported the coach had been strangled.

(Read content ‘Jamaican police official says coroner found bruises on cricket coach’s neck’…)

A crowd of about 3,000 people, many students and alumni, gathered for the bonfire. They went silent as juniors and seniors who had been in charge of the construction marched toward the stack with torches.

Texas A&M will take on No. 13 Texas in College Station on Friday.

The bonfire has been banned from campus since 12 Aggies were killed when a 59-foot-high wedding cake-like stack of more than 5,000 logs collapsed as students were building it on Nov.

(Read content ‘Aggies light off-campus Texas bonfire (AP)’…)

ZURICH, Switzerland: Taye Taiwo scored in the 79th minute and gave Nigeria a 1-0 victory over Switzerland, the final friendly match of the year for the 2008 European Championship co-host.

The left back who plays for Marseille struck with a strong left-foot from outside the box on a pass back from captain Peter Odemwingie, sending the ball into the left corner just beyond the hand of diving Swiss goalkeeper Diego Benaglio.

It was the fifth loss in 10 games for the Swiss this year.

(Read content ‘Nigeria beats Switzerland 1-0 in friendly’…)

2 $Updated: yvonnej$ –>

A lot was made over the summer about the improvements made throughout the Eastern Conference. The top free agent available, , remained in . , , , and all switched coasts.

Randolph’s awful Knicks aside, all of the other players mentioned above have contributed to drastic improvements for their new teams, while Billups’ return has kept the Pistons among their conference’s elites.

(Read content ‘Power Rankings: After all that offseason splash, East still weak’…)

Love had 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Mbah a Moute hit a 3-pointer with 28 seconds left, helping second-ranked UCLA rebound from a miserable first half to beat No. 10 Michigan State 68-63 on Tuesday night in the championship game of the CBE Classic.

UCLA (5-0) couldn’t get anything going in the first half, forcing up shots inside, missing open ones on the outside.

(Read content ‘Love, Mbah a Moute lead UCLA past MSU (AP)’…)